The Literature Thread

[Memento Mori]

Cool, I shall skip it for now. God knows I don't need to add to my list at the moment.

Eyes of the Dragon is entirely skippable in terms of Dark Tower mythos. It's a relatively minor fantasy story of Flagg being awful in another parallel universe.

[Lex-Man]

I just finished the first game of thrones book. I think it's fairly decent but is was kind of ruined by the fact the TV series followed it so closely. There were some differences but they didn't really seem important. Getting a bit more on the first people and spirit trees was cool. Didn't like some of the phrases like "breaking fast" for breakfast and "ser". Also the children seemed way too young for there roles John Snow being 15 is insane.

[Memento Mori]

I just finished the first game of thrones book. I think it's fairly decent but is was kind of ruined by the fact the TV series followed it so closely. There were some differences but they didn't really seem important. Getting a bit more on the first people and spirit trees was cool. Didn't like some of the phrases like "breaking fast" for breakfast and "ser". Also the children seemed way too young for there roles John Snow being 15 is insane.

Some of the differences will probably be very important but the payoff hasn't actually been published yet. I expect season 6 of Game of Thrones to be full of massive spoilers for the unpublished book 6.

[7256930752]

Started Bone Clocks yesterday. It's a bit mental but I'm intrigued.

I take it a few people on here must have read it after the success of Cloud Atlas, what did you think?

[Lex-Man]

I just finished the first game of thrones book. I think it's fairly decent but is was kind of ruined by the fact the TV series followed it so closely. There were some differences but they didn't really seem important. Getting a bit more on the first people and spirit trees was cool. Didn't like some of the phrases like "breaking fast" for breakfast and "ser". Also the children seemed way too young for there roles John Snow being 15 is insane.

Some of the differences will probably be very important but the payoff hasn't actually been published yet. I expect season 6 of Game of Thrones to be full of massive spoilers for the unpublished book 6.

Maybe in the later books but from the first book all of the differences seem incidental. All the same stuff happens but the way it happens is a bit different.

[Rex Kramer]

I'm currently about a third of the way through The Night Circus and I'm enjoying it immensely. Its definitely got a real other worldly charm about it in the same style as maybe a Neil Gaiman novel or Jonathan Strange and Me Norrell. At this point I'd definitely recommend it.

[Irene Demova]

Nothing happens in the next third of it

So it's very Gaiman like

[Rex Kramer]

Not all Gaiman books are American Gods you know. I tend to find the shorter the book, the better they are.

[<]:^D]

i picked up the first Game of Thrones book in the shop and tried reading the first few pages; the writing is awful. does it get better?

also picked up another sci-fi book Stand on Zanzibar took a while to get into but thoroughly recommended.

[Memento Mori]

i picked up the first Game of Thrones book in the shop and tried reading the first few pages; the writing is awful. does it get better?

Awful how?

[<]:^D]

he whispered, softly
he calmly replied
he mentioned, quietly

strawberry float off i can imagine the context and how they speak to each other this is why you havent finished the strawberry floating books yet

[Psychic]

he whispered, softly
he calmly replied
he mentioned, quietly

strawberry float off i can imagine the context and how they speak to each other this is why you havent finished the strawberry floating books yet

He said, angrily.

[<]:^D]

exactly

[King Chaz]

In the past few months I've finished a few series including The Wheel of Time, Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Could anyone please recommend a new series in a similar vein to these books?

[Moggy]

In the past few months I've finished a few series including The Wheel of Time, Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Could anyone please recommend a new series in a similar vein to these books?

I read all three of those series recently as well.

Have you ever read Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series? I really enjoyed that series (and his other series "Otherland" is worth a read as well).

I have completely change tack and am reading through the Jack Reacher books at the moment.

[King Chaz]

In the past few months I've finished a few series including The Wheel of Time, Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Could anyone please recommend a new series in a similar vein to these books?

I read all three of those series recently as well.

Have you ever read Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series? I really enjoyed that series (and his other series "Otherland" is worth a read as well).

I have completely change tack and am reading through the Jack Reacher books at the moment.

Cheers will give that a look. Been thinking about Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books, but there's only 2 in the series so far, so will look into your suggestion as well.

Yeah I've got the Jason Bourne series sitting on my bookshelf, but I gave up in Ultimatum. I may pick them back up sometime.

[Wedgie]

I lol'ed, hard.

[Cal]

Just finished reading Michel Houellebecq's Submission.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submission_(novel)

The novel, a political satire, imagines a situation in which a Muslim party upholding traditionalist and patriarchal values leads the 2022 vote in France and is able to form a government with the support of France's Islamo-Leftist Socialist Party. The book drew an unusual amount of attention because, by a macabre coincidence, it was released on the day of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.[7]

It's a good read, if short, with some fantastic writing, but it's also quite wordy and at times almost comically pretentious. What makes it interesting is the tone - not especially judgmental, not particularly political. There's a curious and attractive melancholy and a quietly doomed sense of inevitability about the whole thing. It's an imagined (near) future in which France becomes the first EU nation to be led by a muslim government. One might imagine this could lead to all sorts of cliched stereotyping, but Houellebecq holds back - his little observations are all the more impactful for their subtlety (and wit). Is it a warning?

Well worth a read, especially in the light of the Paris shootings.

Embarrassing fact: I didn't realise until halfway through the novel that the title 'Submission' is a literal meaning of the word 'Islam'.

[Frank]

So, starting next year I might be having to go on the occassional work trip to Shanghai, so I've just bought myself a Kindle \o/

And also just noticed that they've blocked the jailbreak with the more recent firmware /o\ Is it wrong that I'm tempted to send it back because I can't change the wallpapers? The stock Kindle ones are dreadful

Still, maybe someone'll find a way around it at some point...

Just downloaded the Game of Thrones books (A Song of Ice and Fire?), so I can see if they're any better than the TV show. Doubtful.

[Memento Mori]

Just downloaded the Game of Thrones books (A Song of Ice and Fire?), so I can see if they're any better than the TV show. Doubtful.

They're so much better than the TV show.